Anti-Roma racism, one of Europe’s oldest and most enduring racisms, has been neglected in mainstream theories and discourse. This book situates anti-Roma racism within national and intra-continental histories and global scholarship, exploring its specific and universal underpinnings and manifestations and its interconnectedness with other systems of oppression.

The Permanence of Anti-Roma Racism offers a theoretical perspective on the roots of anti-Roma racism, tracing its genesis in the system of racialized slavery in the principalities of Molvoda and Wallachia and the politics of killings, expulsions, and entry bans across Europe in the late Middle Ages. Furthermore, employing theoretical frameworks of structural oppressions, anti-colonial and decolonial thought, racialization, and intersectionality, this book analyzes how deep historical legacies continue to shape anti-Roma racism as an enduring, structural form of oppression.

This scholarly work is essential for policymakers, practitioners, scholars, and students working on the sociology of racialization, global race and structural racisms, and European history. It defines, categorizes, and unpacks the processes and mechanisms of racialization and anti-Roma racism, shedding light on a system of oppression too often left unspoken.

Erratum: The photograph labeled Tismana Monastery (p. 75) depicts Vodița Monastery. This correction couldn’t be resolved during production, but it will be included in future printings and translations.